The United States is ready to increase pressure on African nations maintaining diplomatic, trading, or military ties to North Korea, the Financial Times has detailed.
In an attempt to further squeeze the country’s economy as the regime expands its nuclear program, the State Department will reportedly ask the 13 African countries with North Korean embassies to expel all their diplomats and other workers, arguing that they effectively operate as “profit-making centers.”
Washington also reportedly believes that several thousand North Koreans are illegally trafficking wildlife parts such as rhinoceros horns, used for ivory, in an effort to obtain foreign currency of which the country is desperately short.
According to the head of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center Peter Tham, the trafficking might appear to provide “chump change,” but in fact provides around 3 percent to 5 percent of the regime’s annual foreign earnings, which represent “a fairly significant sum to the regime given the overall squeeze on its finances.”
North Korea has long pursued increasing its “soft power” by expanding its diplomatic presence in the region through initiatives ranging from academic exchanges to illegal arms sales. Most relationships are predicated on a wider alliance against fighting Western imperialism, which particularly appeals to many of Africa’s more autocratic leaders.
Last year, the United Nations identified 11 nations as having military ties to Pyongyang: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
The U.S. has already initiated efforts to pressure these countries into cutting ties with Pyongyang, in compliance with Executive Order 13810 signed by President Donald Trump last September, which allows Washington to ban any country or individual from trading in the U.S. if they are found to be dealing with North Korea.
Last October, Sudan, which is also a designated state sponsor of terror, announced that it had severed all ties with North Korea, causing the U.S. to lift sanctions against Omar al-Bashir’s regime dating back to human rights violations reported in the 1990s.
Namibia has also cut ties with two of North Korea’s state-run companies, which had previously helped construct a munitions factory as well as other military projects.
Other countries such as Mozambique, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have so far been unresponsive to Washington’s demand, while states such as Eritrea have refused any form of compliance. Even allies such as South Africa have “failed to provide a clear answer,” according to state department’s acting deputy assistant secretary for Africa.
The push against Africa forms part of the Trump administration’s wider strategy to move countries away from dealing with the rogue communist state. So far, the main focus of Trump’s efforts has been on China, whom he has repeatedly urged to stop trading with North Korea.
However, figures released in October revealed that China had, in fact, increased its exports to its communist ally by 21 percent, with Trump claiming he was “very disappointed” by China’s efforts.
Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.
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